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by Asia Maqsood 27 December 2022
The blame game between India and Pakistan over terrorist activities has gained a new face as Pakistan now, giving evidences against these India’s involvement in the militant activities in Pakistan even using Afghan soil giving the prospects to the international community to prevent India from such activities. This situation could put an end to the regional collaboration, which depends on the domestic stability of both India and Pakistan.
Michael Kugelman, deputy director Asia program at Washington’s Wilson Center, observed that Pakistan’s claims about Indian-sponsored terror are now at new level.
“They’ve been made for years. What is new is providing more detail on the allegations and placing these details squarely in the public [and global] eye,” tweeted Kugelman.
The recent example of evidence is Pakistan’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hina Rabbani Khar’s press conference which she clearly stated that India’s objective was to undermine Pakistan’s peace and security through terrorism, saying “no country had used terrorism better than India”. She added, “To play on the back of the attention of the world on terrorism and to play the victim, no country has benefitted from it better than India.”
She expressed, “I wish I was here to be talking to you how South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) is prospering, how regional connectivity is happening […] we are at a unique place where perpetrators of terrorism are projecting themselves to be the greatest victims of terrorism.
She stated that If you compare Pakistan and India, you will find Pakistan to always be at the forefront of counter-terrorism, of ensuring that we are a player in the world to try and make sure terrorism does not continue to haunt us. In counter terrorism efforts, Pakistan has already initiated talks with Taliban, seeking action against TTP and its affiliates after the afghan Taliban’s take over the government. It has given a list of wanted TTP terrorists operating from Afghanistan,” a senior Pakistani official, familiar with the development, told The Express Tribune.
Geo-political scenario in the region of Afghanistan following the United States’ departure more over a year ago, including the rise of foreign terrorist organizations operating out of Afghanistan need for a more inclusive people-friendly Taliban government. The situation worries the neighboring nations, especially Pakistan along with China. A secure environment demands a stable Afghanistan. All of these regional nations, including India, should cooperate at least for this reason in order to combat terrorist operations instead using the soil of Afghanistan in an attempt to destabilize Pakistan, otherwise region remain would volatile and vulnerable to terrorist activities.
Khar’s conference at this time therefore served as a projection of India’s involvement in terrorist actions, seeking the attention of the international community.
In conference , she highlighted Lahore attack. In June 2021, a powerful blast near the residence of Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed in Johar Town had killed three people and injured 24 others, including a police constable. Days after the incident, the then information minister Fawad Chaudhry and national security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf told a press conference that the mastermind of the attack was “an Indian citizen and he is associated with [Indian intelligence agency] RAW”. This dossier 2021, as you already know, has details, evidence of how India has found to be fully behind this particular incident which led to the loss of lives, has been shared with the diplomatic corp.
Earlier this year, Dawn reported that the Punjab CTD had claimed to have arrested the mastermind as well as the facilitator of the Johar Town bomb blast from Balochistan. They were identified as Samiul Haq and Uzair Akbar.
The significance of this conference comes at a time when the public is split between those who support the PMLN and those who support the PTI. This conference in Khar may be an attempt by the current Pakistani government to gain political advantage by bringing attention to Pakistan’s security situation. But it was vital to talk about this. In the past, India planned terrorist acts like the Gurdwara bombings, the Lahore explosion, and the Gwadar attack to hurt Pakistan’s bilateral relation with China. Additionally, the TTP-India alliance might attempt some diabolical militant plans against Pakistan.
In last couple of years , in 2020 , ex- Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and army spokesman Major-General Babar Iftikhar, at a joint news conference Babar displayed for the first time what he said were documents, banking transactions worth millions of dollars, audio clips and details of contacts between Indian intelligence operatives and diplomats with fugitive Pakistani militants operating out of Afghanistan.
“Uncontrivable evidence reveals that Indian embassies and consulates operating along Pakistan’s borders have become hub of terror sponsorship against Pakistan,” the general said.
“We have verifiable evidence of terrorists funding by India. Indian ambassadors in Afghanistan have been regularly supervising various terrorist activities,” Babar added.
“The evidence provided by Pakistan provides concrete proof of Indian financial and material sponsorship of multiple terrorist organizations, including U.N.-designated terrorist organizations Jamaat ul Ahrar, Bloch Liberation Army and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan,” Qureshi said.